Cute animal pictures: Rescued fox cubs

A fox cub named Shortcake, abandoned by her mother a week ago, is fed at the East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service in Hailsham, Sussex, before being released back into the wild

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Black foxes get their unusual colouring from a rare genetic defect

The unusual colouring is normally seen on growing cubs before the fox develops its dark chestnut coat, however some red foxes remain black due to a rare genetic flaw, which dates back hundreds of years.

Trever Williams, of charity The Fox Project said: "Photos I've seen in the past have sometimes subsequently turned out to be a seriously mangy fox that's lost all the fur and the resulting grey skin looks black.

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Mr Stevens said it was 'really quite a shock to the system to see one'

"They can occur naturally, as can many other shades of red fox." According to Gaelic tradition, black foxes are bringers of bad luck to anyone who sees them.

Rural communities used to tell of a fox as 'black as night, so that it could live in a man's shadow and never be seen.'

Centuries-old superstitions are often found attached to black animals, such as black dogs and black cats. And the black fox has been associated with the devil.

In Medieval times, villages were very afraid of the sighting of a black fox and considered it to predict trouble or bad luck.